Global Playground Celebrates Tenth Anniversary

Global Playground Celebrates Tenth Anniversary

On May 12, 2006, Global Playground was born, with the dream of providing educational opportunities and encouraging cross-cultural understanding among children across the globe. Global Playground sought to be an organization that would give children in developing countries access to education and a forum to share their perspectives and learn from other children similar to themselves, an ocean or border away. Global Playground sought to develop the tools for children to pave better futures for themselves and their communities, learn about themselves, and learn about the world around them.

Ten years later, Global Playground now has projects in seven different countries and an eighth in development, spanning Southeast Asia, Central America, and East Africa. Global Playground has coordinated art exchanges, pen pal programs, environmental campaigns, and other activities that encourage students to engage with the rest of the world. Currently, an estimated 2,500 students from Honduras to Myanmar are actively participating in Global Playground programs, and thousands of other children have benefited from Global Playground’s work to date. There is a lot to celebrate, and there are a lot of people with whom to celebrate.

This month, at each of Global Playground’s project sites in Uganda, Cambodia, Thailand, Honduras, Vietnam, Myanmar, and the Philippines, the students, teachers, and community members who make up our Global Playground family threw birthday parties to celebrate the 10th ‘birthday’ of Global Playground.

Sir Joebel, of Mangoso, Sigma, Capiz, Philippines, remarked during the Mangoso celebration, “Happy Birthday to Global Playground. Thank you for touching the lives of people around the world. We here at Mangoso Elementary School are very thankful… We are very thankful for the three classrooms that we have now.”

Students at Paw Myar School (Paw Myar Village, Myanmar)

Kendall Lorenzen, Global Playground’s Global Fellow, reflected, “We have all been privileged to work with such incredible children and communities. As the Global Fellow, I am lucky to see the impact that Global Playground and its partners have had every single day. Education is the greatest tool, the greatest foundation one can have. Thousands of students around the world now can dream, learn, play, and grow into the people they want to be. Through our cross-cultural curriculum they develop an appreciation for their homes and places they once didn’t know existed on a map. This is something special.”

Do you want to join in the celebrations? Share your birthday wishes for Global Playground on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #GPBirthday.